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dienercontent's review
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kuislea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
hsecen's review against another edition
4.25
May 2024 reread:
Bumping this up to 4.25 stars, probably because I was better prepared for the pacing across the series and I had a much better time with this book!
3.5 stars
Oh my goodness. I was preparing to write my review as I was finishing up this book (but 100% complete). That ending was crazy and I’m pretty desperate to start the next book and find out what happened. For the most part, this book was a lot of laying groundwork for the world and fighting to come. There’s several training bits, and my complaint about the development in the relationship between Vhalla and Aldrik in the first book was more than made up in this book. In fact, I felt like their relationship had a much larger role in this book than any other plot point. My major complaint was that not much happened for a big portion of the story. It definitely has the feel of a middle book and I also wish that some of the declarations made toward the end of Book 1 carried over better into Book 2. I did enjoy reading this though, and thought that there were some interesting plot points, especially towards the end! I think if that had carried through the book a little more, it would have made for a better paced book. In any case, now I need to go start the next book to figure what happened after that ending.
Bumping this up to 4.25 stars, probably because I was better prepared for the pacing across the series and I had a much better time with this book!
3.5 stars
Oh my goodness. I was preparing to write my review as I was finishing up this book (but 100% complete). That ending was crazy and I’m pretty desperate to start the next book and find out what happened. For the most part, this book was a lot of laying groundwork for the world and fighting to come. There’s several training bits, and my complaint about the development in the relationship between Vhalla and Aldrik in the first book was more than made up in this book. In fact, I felt like their relationship had a much larger role in this book than any other plot point. My major complaint was that not much happened for a big portion of the story. It definitely has the feel of a middle book and I also wish that some of the declarations made toward the end of Book 1 carried over better into Book 2. I did enjoy reading this though, and thought that there were some interesting plot points, especially towards the end! I think if that had carried through the book a little more, it would have made for a better paced book. In any case, now I need to go start the next book to figure what happened after that ending.
sashapasha's review against another edition
4.0
*minor-ish spoilers ahead*
You know how the first bite of triple-chocolate cake is mind-blowingly delicious and then each bite thereafter gets a little harder to stomach, until suddenly you've had too much and another bite will make you sick?
Well, there were moments in Fire Falling that were a bite of triple-chocolate too far.
We pick up the story with Vhalla and the princes headed to war. The journey is months-long, and during that time Vhalla must learn to fight. She's still struggling with the aftereffects of the 'Night of Fire and Wind', and her relationship with Aldrik is unclear.
The second installment of the Air Awakens series is overall pretty great.
The problem is the excessive drama, and in the latter half of the book, the excessive loveydoveyness. We all love a nice romantic scene, but when you have ten of them one after another, it gets to be a little hard to take. Romance is most effective when used sparingly.
Vhalla is not in great form in this book. In the beginning she is extremely whiny, complaining about going to war every two seconds while her friends decide to give up their comfortable, safe lives to accompany her without a word. Then, she spends a lot of time just in general doubting herself and telling everyone about it. I really wish that she had adopted the 'fake it til you make it' attitude and not gone around begging for sympathy/help. She gets better about doubting herself later on, but by then she is firmly engrossed in the drama surrounding her love-life.
Baldair really grew on me in this installment. Partly because we get to see more of the relationship between Aldrik and Baldair, which is a beautiful thing to behold. They seem to hate each other, while simultaneously trusting each other completely. I love it. Baldair also has some really great moments. In one totally awesome scene, Vhalla smacks him in the face and then apologizes. His response?
The prince began to laugh; he placed a palm on his stomach and let the melodic sound break the tension in the air. “No, I rather deserved it, didn’t I?”
So endearing.
Overall, i'm loving this series. It has a lot of anime/Avatar: The Last Airbender overtones which I'm eating up with gusto, so if you haven't started, i'd say go for it.
Listening Soundtrack:
- Seppuku - 47 Ronin soundtrack (sandstorm scene)
- Can You Hear Your Heart - Winter's Tale soundtrack (certain Aldrik and Vhalla scenes)
- Holding Out for a Hero - Nothing But Thieves (for Aldrik's badass scenes)
- Playing With Fire - Chroma Music (2014 - Epic Dramatic Vocal)
You know how the first bite of triple-chocolate cake is mind-blowingly delicious and then each bite thereafter gets a little harder to stomach, until suddenly you've had too much and another bite will make you sick?
Well, there were moments in Fire Falling that were a bite of triple-chocolate too far.
We pick up the story with Vhalla and the princes headed to war. The journey is months-long, and during that time Vhalla must learn to fight. She's still struggling with the aftereffects of the 'Night of Fire and Wind', and her relationship with Aldrik is unclear.
The second installment of the Air Awakens series is overall pretty great.
The problem is the excessive drama, and in the latter half of the book, the excessive loveydoveyness. We all love a nice romantic scene, but when you have ten of them one after another, it gets to be a little hard to take. Romance is most effective when used sparingly.
Vhalla is not in great form in this book. In the beginning she is extremely whiny, complaining about going to war every two seconds while her friends decide to give up their comfortable, safe lives to accompany her without a word. Then, she spends a lot of time just in general doubting herself and telling everyone about it. I really wish that she had adopted the 'fake it til you make it' attitude and not gone around begging for sympathy/help. She gets better about doubting herself later on, but by then she is firmly engrossed in the drama surrounding her love-life.
Baldair really grew on me in this installment. Partly because we get to see more of the relationship between Aldrik and Baldair, which is a beautiful thing to behold. They seem to hate each other, while simultaneously trusting each other completely. I love it. Baldair also has some really great moments. In one totally awesome scene, Vhalla smacks him in the face and then apologizes. His response?
The prince began to laugh; he placed a palm on his stomach and let the melodic sound break the tension in the air. “No, I rather deserved it, didn’t I?”
So endearing.
Overall, i'm loving this series. It has a lot of anime/Avatar: The Last Airbender overtones which I'm eating up with gusto, so if you haven't started, i'd say go for it.
Listening Soundtrack:
- Seppuku - 47 Ronin soundtrack (sandstorm scene)
- Can You Hear Your Heart - Winter's Tale soundtrack (certain Aldrik and Vhalla scenes)
- Holding Out for a Hero - Nothing But Thieves (for Aldrik's badass scenes)
- Playing With Fire - Chroma Music (2014 - Epic Dramatic Vocal)
fixxon's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
reneec1's review against another edition
4.25
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️
I really like this story and the characters, but I feel like I can’t give it a higher rating because the phrasing needs to be edited better (it feels like a first book written by the author) and there are some inconsistencies in characters and timelines. It sometimes felt like whatever was convenient at the time was what was said, especially for Larel and Aldrik’s relationship and past.
🌶️
I really like this story and the characters, but I feel like I can’t give it a higher rating because the phrasing needs to be edited better (it feels like a first book written by the author) and there are some inconsistencies in characters and timelines. It sometimes felt like whatever was convenient at the time was what was said, especially for Larel and Aldrik’s relationship and past.
curlyquinnreads's review against another edition
5.0
Literally crying
Cried with the first book cried with this one lol.
I love to be so attached and connected with the story and characters. It’s a really good story so far and am very inverted to read more
Cried with the first book cried with this one lol.
I love to be so attached and connected with the story and characters. It’s a really good story so far and am very inverted to read more
clowdywings's review against another edition
2.0
This was a hard book to read. It's depressing in a lot of spots and it has a dark undertone to everything. This is set in the military and I think there were two wars. It was fairly compelling, so I was able to finish it.
The writing wasn't the best. There was quite a bit of telling and very limited showing. I also got confused at the sentence order occasionally. One sentence would say something, then the following talked about the topic even better and would have been better if it was first.
The characters were probably the best part. I didn't really like the main character, Vhalla, too much. I pitied her often and occasionally enjoyed her narrative but I just couldn't connect with her as I did the first. I think there was too much character change in the first book. She was a completely different character. I mean, it makes sense, considering what she went through. I just didn't enjoy it too much.
I liked the crown prince and the main character's friend much more than the mc. The friend was sweet and relatable and the crown prince was funny and interesting.
One thing I absolutely hated was the romantic encounters. Every time they had a moment, the crown prince would say something along the lines of "you should probably leave." In response every single time (I'm not joking, it really did happen that much), Vhalla would say, "I suppose."
The ending was pretty pointless and cruel. I don't see the reason why it had to happen. It's so bad it makes me not want to read the next book.
I really like the cover. It's done quite well and looks good.
***
Edit:
I totally forgot this until now but it needs to be said. The consistency is pretty bad. I'll give you a glaring example. (Probably spoilers, so watch out. I tried not to spoil anything but I did quote some lines.)
Page 19-20 says, "Vhalla had never been taught how to properly ride... From a young age she'd rode astride, so sitting in a saddle seemed a natural stance."
Okay... What?
First of all, that's confusing.
Secondly, the author is contradicting themselves.
Thirdly, I don't think it works that way. You need to learn how to deal with the saddle and the reins. It's not going to seem like a "natural stance" because she's ridden bareback before.
So, continuing on page 20, there's a bunch of horse stuff that contradicts what I said above. And then on page 21, I really got frustrated, enough so that I slammed the book shut and had to take a breather.
Here's the line; "You're holding the reins too tightly," Vhalla advised quietly over Fritz to Larel, who seems to be having trouble controlling her horse. [pg 21]
Vhalla, that's a no. You don't know how to deal with the reins. You weren't trained. Please stop.
So there's a glaring inconsistency that I found. I personally have not ridden a horse before, but I do know that you need training to control horses properly.
The author just got lazy in this point. The author could have said that the group went through horseback riding lessons for a month or so prior. But they chose not to say that.
The writing wasn't the best. There was quite a bit of telling and very limited showing. I also got confused at the sentence order occasionally. One sentence would say something, then the following talked about the topic even better and would have been better if it was first.
The characters were probably the best part. I didn't really like the main character, Vhalla, too much. I pitied her often and occasionally enjoyed her narrative but I just couldn't connect with her as I did the first. I think there was too much character change in the first book. She was a completely different character. I mean, it makes sense, considering what she went through. I just didn't enjoy it too much.
I liked the crown prince and the main character's friend much more than the mc. The friend was sweet and relatable and the crown prince was funny and interesting.
One thing I absolutely hated was the romantic encounters. Every time they had a moment, the crown prince would say something along the lines of "you should probably leave." In response every single time (I'm not joking, it really did happen that much), Vhalla would say, "I suppose."
The ending was pretty pointless and cruel. I don't see the reason why it had to happen. It's so bad it makes me not want to read the next book.
I really like the cover. It's done quite well and looks good.
***
Edit:
I totally forgot this until now but it needs to be said. The consistency is pretty bad. I'll give you a glaring example. (Probably spoilers, so watch out. I tried not to spoil anything but I did quote some lines.)
Page 19-20 says, "Vhalla had never been taught how to properly ride... From a young age she'd rode astride, so sitting in a saddle seemed a natural stance."
Okay... What?
First of all, that's confusing.
Secondly, the author is contradicting themselves.
Thirdly, I don't think it works that way. You need to learn how to deal with the saddle and the reins. It's not going to seem like a "natural stance" because she's ridden bareback before.
So, continuing on page 20, there's a bunch of horse stuff that contradicts what I said above. And then on page 21, I really got frustrated, enough so that I slammed the book shut and had to take a breather.
Here's the line; "You're holding the reins too tightly," Vhalla advised quietly over Fritz to Larel, who seems to be having trouble controlling her horse. [pg 21]
Vhalla, that's a no. You don't know how to deal with the reins. You weren't trained. Please stop.
So there's a glaring inconsistency that I found. I personally have not ridden a horse before, but I do know that you need training to control horses properly.
The author just got lazy in this point. The author could have said that the group went through horseback riding lessons for a month or so prior. But they chose not to say that.
oliofficialx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0